MMA Junkie's Submission of the Month for May: Ramiz Brahimaj's savage standing choke

USA Today

03-06-2025

MMA Junkie's Submission of the Month for May: Ramiz Brahimaj's savage standing choke
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from May 2025: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie's Submission of the Month award for May.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Nominee: Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Jessica Andrade at UFC 315
Jasmine Jasudavicius passed the sternest test of her career with flying colors against former champion Jessica Andrade.
Jasudavicius (14-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) submitted Jessica Andrade (26-14 MMA, 17-12 UFC) less than three minutes into the opening round of the women's flyweight bout. Jasudavicius picked Andrade up and slammed her down, before quickly transitioning to her back to cinch in the rear-naked choke finish.
Nominee: Benoit Saint Denis def. Kyle Prepolec at UFC 315
Benoit Saint Denis performed like a heavy favorite against short notice replacement Kyle Prepolec in their lightweight bout.
Saint Denis (14-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) ran through the returning Prepolec (18-9 MMA, 0-3 UFC) for an arm-triangle choke at the 2:35 mark of Round 2. After controlling the action throughout, Saint Denis sunk in the finishing technique to snap a two-fight losing skid.
Nominee: Luana Santos def. Tainara Lisboa at UFC Fight Night 256
Luana Santos was a force to be reckoned with in her return to the women's bantamweight division, and Tainara Lisboa felt the wrath.
Santos (9-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) dominated Tainara Lisboa (7-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) with superior grappling, eventually locking in and finishing the first Americana in women's UFC history with just one second remaining in the second round.
Nominee: Jordan Leavitt def. Kurt Holobaugh at UFC on ESPN 68
Jordan Leavitt returned to the octagon from a long layoff and scored one of the most impressive wins of his career against Kurt Holobaugh.
Leavitt (12-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) landed a takedown just seconds into the lightweight contest, and that was the beginning of the end. Holobaugh (21-10 MMA, 2-7 UFC) tried to scramble, but Leavitt transitioned into an anaconda choke and put his foe to sleep in just 99 seconds.
The winner: Ramiz Brahimaj def. Billy Ray Goff at UFC on ESPN 68
Ramiz Brahimaj scored one of the most vicious submissions in recent memory at UFC on ESPN 68 when he put Billy Ray Goff to sleep.
Brahimaj (12-5 MMA, 4-3 UFC) applied a tight standing guillotine choke on Goff (9-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) in the opening round of their welterweight bout on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and squeezed until he dropped his opponent's lifeless body to the canvas with shades of Jon Jones' finish of Lyoto Machida back in December 2011.
With the win, Brahimaj maintained his 100 percent career finish rate and now has back-to-back wins in the octagon. He said he thinks this is the start of his best days at 170 pounds.
"I feel like I'm home," Brahimaj said in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. "I've battled through a lot. I was going to hang up these gloves two years ago due to injuries. I know it's God pushing me toward this journey, so I'm here."
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